Disclaimer: Are they mine yet? *sigh* nope.

Sequel to Oh, Josh!

But only if you chose the right path!! This is the honor system, only read this story if CJ and Danny ended up on a date when you played the game. ;)

***

CJ woke up with a smile on her face, five minutes before her alarm rang. She spent the next five minutes thinking about the previous night. When the alarm went off, she sighed and pushed those thoughts aside. She was sure she would be pulling her thoughts off of Danny for the rest of the day.

She sighed as her smile faded. She would be trying not to think of Danny for the next few years. Unless, she thought optimistically, she could get Josh to set up a few more dates for her.

She began to rifle through her closet, looking for something to wear. She wished she had picked out her clothes the night before; it was too early to be making decisions now.

The phone rang, startling her. She grabbed it on the second ring.

"Hello?" She listened for a moment. "Josh? Yeah, I'll be in soon. What for?" She sighed. "Okay, let me go online and see."

Her computer booted up as she sat silently. Finally, she asked, "What's the site?" She typed in the address he gave her, then gasped. "Oh, Josh! I'm so screwed!"

"We all are, CJ." Josh sighed. "Just get in here."

He hung up and looked at Leo sadly.

"Call Toby," Leo told him. "And we'll need to get the President in on this."

Josh sighed again. "Yeah."

***

CJ avoided her office and headed for Leo's instead, not wanting to run into any of her reporters.

Margaret waved her in immediately with a small smile that CJ didn't dwell on.

"Hey." She faced the men in the room, her throat suddenly dry.

Leo nodded to her and the rest avoided her eyes. Her heart dropped. One stupid mistake, she berated herself. She was about to lose her job over a kiss. If she had known what the consequences would be, she might have invited Danny up last night.

The door opened, breaking into her thoughts. "He's ready."

"Thanks Margaret." Leo led the way into the Oval office. They stood silently in a line in front of the desk while the President signed a few papers.

Finally, he looked up. "CJ."

"Sir," she nearly whispered.

"I'm not going to fire you."

She smiled suddenly, relieved beyond belief.

"We've all talked." He gestured to Leo, Josh, Toby and Will. "We're in your corner, a united front." He stared at each man in turn. "We will have one stand on this, one line."

"Sir?"

"As far as the press are concerned, we were all in on this from the beginning. We all agreed you should have a date with Danny."

"What are we going to tell the press?" Will asked.

"We can try to play it off." CJ suggested.

Leo considered it. "How?"

"It was a one time thing?" She said.

"Would Danny go along with saying you pushed him away?" Leo asked. "We'll still have to worry about why you were alone, but that would take care of the picture."

Jed laughed. "I saw the picture, Leo. So did you. She's not pushing him away in that picture, far from it."

She blushed and looked down. "Where is Danny?"

"In my office," Josh told her.

"Maybe he knows what we should do. He is a member of the press after all."

Leo nodded at her, then turned to Jed. "What do you think?"

"Charlie!" When he appeared, Jed continued. "Call Donna, get her to bring Danny over."

Charlie nodded and left. They stood in silence, waiting for Danny.

"Sir?" Charlie showed a hesitant Danny into the office.

"Come in, Danny. We're not throwing you to the guard dogs." Jed waved him in, then turned to Leo. "Guard dogs, now there's an idea."

Danny looked around at the others in the office, his eyes softening when they landed on CJ. "CJ? I'm sorry."

She looked up then and smiled at him. "I was there too."

He smiled back. "Yeah, I remember."

Jed cleared his throat with a small smile. "Danny, how're you doing?"

"I was better before I turned on my computer this morning."

"I would imagine. What should CJ tell the press?"

Danny sighed. "It was a one time thing. Tell them..."

***

"We are just friends." CJ told the reporters. She surveyed the raised hands. "Mark?"

"You know, CJ, we don't spend enough time together. You know, as friends."

The rest of the reporters laughed.

CJ shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Steve?"

"Friends, CJ? I like your definition of friends much more than my wife's."

"Does anyone have any questions? Anything that doesn't involve me?" The still chuckling reporters shook their heads. "Then I'll see you later." She left, whispering to Carol on her way out. "Get... Katie in my office."

Carol gave her a strange look but CJ just shrugged and made her way to her office.

A few minutes later, she waved Katie in. Carol shut the door behind them.

"This is off the record."

Katie grinned. "I figured."

"What do you think?"

"When I saw the picture, my first thought was that it took you long enough."

CJ stared at her, confused. "How pissed is the press? Honestly, Katie."

Katie smiled. "We know both of you. Everyone in that room knew it was only a matter of time."

CJ sighed. "You could have clued me in."

"I never ruin the ends of books or movies." Katie told her primly.

"Do you think he'll get, I don't know, better stories?"

"Guess it depends on if he's a good kisser." Katie told her seriously, then laughed at CJ's expression. "I'm kidding, CJ. He's a good reporter, he'll find stories in spite of you, not because of you."

CJ smiled. "Thanks."

"Of course, if there's some big story, could you try to distract him, give the rest of us a better chance. He's got a Pulitzer already, he doesn't need another one."

CJ shook her head in amusement. "I'll think about it."

"Is that it, CJ?"

CJ nodded. Halfway to the door, Katie turned back. "Where's Danny?"

"Where's still off the-"

"Yeah."

"Hiding in Josh's office."

Katie laughed at that image. "Tell him to come out. I think Mark wants some pointers."

CJ laughed as Katie left, then picked up her phone. "Send Danny over here."

***

"Really?" Danny had a shocked expression on his face. "She said all that?"

CJ nodded.

"Wow. I mean, that's good right? Does this mean we can go on another date?"

CJ shrugged. "I don't know. I guess so. It seems to good to be true."

"Yeah." Danny smiled. "I guess I can stop hiding out with you guys now."

"Wait." CJ walked out from behind her desk. Her door was open, so she pulled Danny to the corner of her office where people outside couldn't see them. She hoped no one would wander into her office for the next few seconds.

He smiled as he pulled her closer and their lips met. They kept it light and were soon separating.

"Did you want to have dinner tonight?"

CJ smiled. "Okay."

"I'll come by after work."

***

"Danny!"

"Hey, Katie. Anything newsworthy going on?"

She shook her head at him. "You better be careful, don't get too sure of yourself."

He stared at her, his good mood dropping. "What do you mean?"

She sighed. "I just have a bad feeling."

"Stop eating that garbage pizza before you go to sleep." He suggested, then kissed her on the cheek. "Stop worrying. The most hard hitting journalists in the country were in this room this morning, and all they did was laugh."

She nodded. "Maybe you're right."

"Can I get that in writing?"

"Not a chance, Concannon. Not a chance."

***

"CJ."

"Yeah, Carol?"

Carol handed her a piece of paper with a website address on it. CJ stared at it for a moment, then typed it in.

"Who gave you..." she trailed off as the screen loaded.

"Steve is outside. He says he'll go off the record, but he'd like to talk to you."

CJ nodded mutely, still staring at the screen.

"I'm sorry, CJ."

She looked up. "Thanks, Steve," she whispered. "Any chance of all this going away?"

He sighed. "A sex scandal in Washington?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right." She stared at him. "Do you agree with this article?"

"No." Steve shook his head. "It's ridiculous. But I wanted you to have a heads up before the briefing."

"Thanks, Steve." She watched him walk out, then closed her eyes. In the darkness, the words floated past her eyes.

White House Reporter Trades Sex for Pulitzer?

***

"CJ Cregg: Willing to do Anything to Hide a Story. Anything." Toby paced around his office.

"Washington Lovers Pull Wool over Public's Eyes." Josh supplied.

"'Great in Bed' says one Washington Insider." Will read. Toby and Josh traded amused looks. "What?"

"Inside joke," Josh told him and Toby coughed to cover the laugh.

"Who's writing these?" Will asked.

"Not any of my reporters," CJ told them. "Carol's checking the names now."

"The short answer to that question, CJ." Toby raised his voice. "Republicans."

"I don’t know," Josh told him quietly. "I would bet some Democrats are pissed too."

Toby glared at him. "No, no. I get to blame whoever I want."

"Until the facts are here," CJ added.

"Exactly." Toby resumed his pacing.

They fell silent for a few moments until the door hesitantly opened. "CJ?"

"Yeah Carol?" CJ took the pages held out to her. "Thanks."

The door closed behind Carol as Toby stopped to stare at CJ. "Well?"

She began to read, before looking up at Toby with a shocked expression. Without a word, she handed him the papers and walked out.

"Toby?" Will questioned him quietly when Toby simply stared at the closed door. He sighed and began to read.

"Behind the Scenes. The article begins, 'The public is just now discovering what White House insiders have known for years.'" He began to read faster, only throwing out random quotes. "'Temptress CJ Cregg.' 'Former insider'... 'exclusive interview this weekend'... 'using sex for political gain for years.' 'Kept job for years despite screw-ups through...' What the hell?" He threw the papers down.

"What does this mean?" Will asked.

Toby glanced at him before settling on Josh. "John Hoynes is about to have his head handed to him on a stick."

***

"CJ Cregg is here to see you."

He smiled. "That's fine. I was expecting her."

CJ walked in but waited until she heard the door click shut behind her. "Do you really want to mess with me?"

John smiled widely. "How are you, CJ?"

"Cut the crap." She narrowed her eyes at him. "You were just waiting for a chance, weren't you? To take me down so you can take the other women down too? Reform your reputation and all that?"

His eyes hardened. "You shouldn't have handed me the damn opportunity, CJ! What were you thinking?"

"You know you're going to lose this game."

"I don't see how I can." His smile appeared again. "You lost. I won."

"Not yet. I'm much better at this than you are." CJ smiled. "And you've either underestimated or forgotten one important fact."

"Which is?"

She smiled serenely at him. "Have a nice life, John."

With that, she walked out the door, not even giving in to the urge to slam the door behind her.

***

"We have two days."

"Ok." Toby nodded, going along with her. "Do you have a plan?"

She smiled. "Besides sleeping around, I do have other qualifications for this job."

"Really?"

She laughed. "Shut up. I'm going to give an interview to one of my reporters. Spin the story before it breaks."

"You think you can control the story?"

She frowned. "I guess John Hoynes isn't the only one unaware of my relationship with my reporters. I have Carol deciding which reporter gets the story."

"Who's it down to?"

"Katie, Mark, Steve, Chris."

"Four." Toby stared at the wall for a moment. "Good reporters, all of them. Respected, well-known. Why not get all of them?"

"Hmm." She considered this for a moment. "Maximum coverage. And that solves two problems. The men might come under suspicion because of the accusations against me. The women might get branded men-haters or worse. That's a great idea, we'll do it."

"We'll take it to Leo," Toby corrected her. "But I'm sure he'll be all for it."

"Yeah." She sighed. "Did you tell Josh and Will?"

"No, that's up to you."

She nodded. "Will you be in the room when I do?"

"Let's meet with Leo right now, get it all out in the open at once."

Her eyes widened but she took a deep breath. "Okay, call him."

***

"They in there?"

Carol nodded.

CJ took a deep breath. "Great."

"Are you sure about this?"

"No." She stared at her closed door. She could see the backs of heads through the window. "If this doesn't work, I could be out of a job. But I have to try."

"If it all goes well, you and Danny..."

CJ gave her a sad smile. "I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Can you get him over here after this meeting?"

Carol smiled sympathetically. "Sure."

CJ fixed her hair and opened the door to her office. "Steve. Kate. Chris. Mark."

"CJ, what's going on?" Steve asked the question they all had.

"I have a story for you. You can mention me as your source, by name."

"CJ-"

"Katie, let me get this out. Then I promise, you can ask any questions you want."

Katie nodded with a small smile, pleased they were going to get so much access for this story.

"A few years ago, I made a big mistake."

CJ shut her door, closing out the rest of the West Wing. This was something she needed to do alone.

***

"First stories just hit the Internet." Carol announced. "And Danny's here."

"Danny, get in here!"

He appeared. "Miss me?"

"Where have you been all day?" Before he could tell her he had been out working on a story, she had wrapped her arms around his neck and was kissing him feverishly.

Carol cleared her throat and CJ eased back. "The stories, CJ."

"Right." She dropped her arms and grabbed the printouts Carol was holding out to her.

"Well?" Danny tried to read them, but she moved behind her desk.

"Let me read them." She flipped through the pages. "Katie. 'Young Future Press Secretary Blindsided by Smooth Senator.' Steve. 'Unrepentant Womanizer: The Real Reason for Hoyne's Banishment by President Bartlet's Administration.'"

"President Bartlet, not just Bartlet." Danny pointed out.

"I know, good sign." She flipped another page. "And Chris. 'Smear Campaign Begins Against White House Press Secretary.'"

"This is good."

"Mark's isn't posted yet." CJ worried.

"I talked to Katie on my way in. The connection was bad on my cell phone, but she did say all of them had agreed when they talked after leaving your office."

"Why didn't you tell me that?"

"Because I couldn't understand if they had agreed in your favor or not."

She stared at him. "I'm getting you a new cell phone. One with better reception."

"So now what?" Danny asked. "Where do we stand?"

"We seem to have the permission of the press in this building."

He smiled. "And you seem to have smacked down the press outside this building."

She laughed. "Yeah. We'll see. But the Hoyne's thing will probably knock us off the radar for a little while."

He moved behind her desk. "This means?"

"We need to be really careful." CJ cautioned, even as she stood and ran her hand up his chest. "For a little while, I may have to give you less exclusives than normal."

"Just for a little while?"

"Yes," she assured him. "Just so people can see I'm not favoring you."

He sighed. "As long as it's not a long term thing."

She kissed his cheek, then whispered in his ear. "Just until we're no longer newsworthy."

He turned his head to kiss her, wrapping his arms around her body to pull her close. They kissed slowly, savoring the moment, clearing their minds of all but each other.

"Tonight?" He murmured against her skin as he placed kissed over her cheek and down to her neck.

"Should I get Josh to set something up?"

He laughed shortly, making her pulse race as his breath flowed over her skin. "I'll set it up this time."

She smiled and moved back to give him another kiss. "I love you. I'll see you later."

His face split into a smile. "I love you too." He stepped back, already missing the feel of her against him. "I'll see you tonight."

***